And miles to go before I sleep
by Melody Jade
Summary: With the death of Sidious and redemption of Anakin, Obi-Wan thought he had finally completed his duty and could find eternal peace in the Force. Instead of joining the Force though, he found himself back in the past. However, things were not quite the same in this new reality he had woken up in, and his battle to save the people he loved most in the galaxy might just be beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: And miles to go before I sleep**

Summary: With the death of Sidious and redemption of Anakin, Obi-Wan thought he had finally completed his duty and could find eternal peace in the Force. Instead of joining the Force though, he found himself back in the past. However, things were not quite the same in this new reality he had woken up in, and his battle to save the people he loved most in the galaxy might just be beginning.

Title from the Robert Frost poem, you know which one. Star Wars doesn't belong to me too, of course.

**Chapter 1:**

* * *

It was finally over. The darkness had retreated after twenty years of dominion, and balance had been restored. Everywhere in the Galaxy, people rejoiced. And over on the forest moon of Endor, where the Rebel Alliance made their last stand, the celebrations were in full swing.

From his vantage point both within and separate of the Force, Obi-Wan Kenobi watched. The Force itself was blazing brightly after the triumph of the Light, and he allowed himself the indulgence of basking in its warmth.

Around him, he felt two Force signatures materialize. One was Yoda, whose Force signature was familiar to Obi-Wan, having spent so much time with him at Dagobah after Obi-Wan's own death. He knew Yoda appreciated the company, even as he repeatedly groused over the lack of privacy and silence. The other Force signature was even more familiar to Obi-Wan, and much loved, but also one that he had not felt this untainted in many years. His brother, his son, his best friend, his partner, all rolled into one. There were so many words to say, but he settled on flippancy for now. They had all the time in the galaxy now, after all.

"Anakin. It has been a long time. You look much the same."

Anakin's eyes, no longer the feral hatred-filled yellow eyes of the Sith, reflected the blue ethereal light of the Force. Smiling sheepishly up at his former Master, Anakin shrugged. "Master. You on the other hand, have quite a bit more grey hair than before." He was cut off from saying more by Luke, who had by now noticed their presence and was looking directly at the three of them. Turning as one, the three of them smiled and nodded at Luke, making no effort to hide their pride in the success of him and his friends.

Anakin's pride in his children was particularly fierce, so strong it was almost a tangible manifestation in the Force. "How could I not have known that Leia was Padme's child? She is so like her. And Luke, he is such a beacon of light in the Force that he chased away all the darkness in me. They are the best of Padme and I."

Obi-Wan nodded approvingly. "They truly are."

"And now, guide the Jedi Order to new beginnings, they will."

Luke gaze lingered a while more on the three of them, the unblemished form of his father and his two dearest mentors, before he was drawn away by his sister to rejoin the celebrations. Looking on, the Force-ghosts basked in the joy that permeated the air around them.

As the festivities wound down, Yoda finally spoke, breaking the silence that had descended around them. "Old, I am. Waited for this I have, for a long time. Join the Force, I will now, and enjoy my eternal rest." Favouring them both with a serene smile, he closed his eyes. For a moment Yoda glowed brightly within the Force, then slowly, his form dissipated into nothingness, leaving only peace behind.

And two Jedi, both suddenly at a loss for words.

Without the buffering presence of the wise old troll between them, and with most of the revelers passed out from celebration-induced exhaustion, the two old friends could only regard each other silently, only an arm's length apart from each other but also a lifetime of love and betrayal and devastation between them. Both of them could hear the siren's call of the Force pulling at them, but they knew that before they could go, they had to first obtain each other's forgiveness.

"Master, I'm sorry for everything…"

"Anakin, I must apologize…"

They both spoke at the same time. Glancing at each other, they burst out laughing, chasing the tension between them off. Obi-Wan quirked an eyebrow while Anakin shook his head ruefully. "You first, then, old man."

Obi-Wan immediately launched into the speech he had imagined himself saying so many times before. "Anakin, I have to offer my deepest apologies to you. I failed you terribly as a Master and as a friend. I didn't give you…"

"Hey, wait a minute. I think I should be the one to apologize, not you. I was the one who turned to the dark side."

"Must you always interrupt me?" Obi-Wan growled, mock-irritably.

"Yes, when you are wrong. I fell due to my own hubris, Master. I wanted power and recognition and thought I would find that at Sidious' side, that I could learn enough to save Padme. I never thought that in turning, I would be the cause the one thing I wanted prevented most. It was all on me. And then I killed everybody. I am so sorry Master. I know I do not deserve your forgiveness, or that of any other, but please believe me when I say that I am truly sorry for all this."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I have long forgiven you, Anakin. This wasn't your fault at all. You were misled by Sidious, Anakin. And we let it happen. In forcing you to fit the mold of a typical Jedi, we doomed you. As your Master, I should have seen that. And I should have fought more for you."

"Master…"

Obi-Wan's head bowed with guilt. "I was not the ideal Master for you, Anakin. I was too inexperienced, too bound by the rules to help you. If I could have just recognized that you needed more from me… Many times over the years I had wondered, how things might have been different if Qui-Gon survived to train you and I had died instead. With him by your side, you would not have turned."

Anakin shook his head adamantly. "Don't say that, Master. You did a kriffing great job. There's no other Jedi that could have trained me as well as you did. I made my own choices."

"Why is it that you have to always argue with me, Anakin, every single time, even when we are dead?" Obi-Wan returned exasperatedly.

"Keeps things interesting, don't they? And besides, you are wrong this time, Master."

"We'll just have to agree to disagree then."

Anakin nodded, still looking unconvinced. "If you say so, Master."

Obi-Wan snorted. Some things never change, and it seems his frequent arguments with Anakin had withstood the test of time. He could feel the Force's pull over them grow stronger, and knew Anakin could feel it too.

"It is time. Are you ready?"

Anakin shook his head, his gaze turning outwards toward the distance where Luke and Leia had gone. "You move on first, Master. I want to stay here a while longer, watch my children."

Accepting that, Obi-Wan grasped Anakin's shoulder. "See you later then, my old friend." Closing his eyes, he searched and reached for the swirling vortex of the Force. The light intensified around him and he could hear thousands and thousands of voices in there, welcoming and embracing him. In that very moment he felt peace as he had never felt it before and knew that he was finally, finally coming home.

* * *

**End Chapter 1**

Thanks for reading, and please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**And miles to go before I sleep**

**Chapter 2:**

* * *

There was never a quiet moment in the Halls of Healing of the Jedi Temple. From initiates receiving their inoculation shots, to Padawans getting treatment for injuries under the protective eye of their Masters, to stubborn Knights fighting off the well-meaning intentions of the Healers, there was always activity to be found anywhere here. Yet one room remained untouched by the hustle and bustle of the day.

Light from the rising sun streamed into the room from the window, bathing the still human form lying on the only bed in a warm glow. Tubes and wires snaked around him connecting him to the machines monitoring and sustaining him. A worn chair was placed by the bed, close enough anyone sitting on it could reach out to touch the person on the bed, and the bedside table was stacked high with datapads loaded full of reading material. Though the room was left undisturbed from the daily grind of life in the temple, the occupant within was not unforgotten. Currently though, there were no visitors, and there was no noise except the steady hum of the machines.

A hum that rapidly grew into a crescendoing alarm as the sensors registered the patient doing something everybody had given up hope on long ago.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was finally waking up.

* * *

Obi-Wan was certain joining the Force wasn't supposed to be like this. For one thing, the peace that had enveloped him just a moment ago had been shattered by a deafening racket, as alarms rang and sensors beeped incessantly. He was lying on a hard bed (though still several orders of magnitude better than the sorry excuse of a bed he slept on in Tatooine) when before he was standing. There was an annoying patch of sunlight that shone right into his eyes as he raised his head and squinted up at his surroundings, which looked alarmingly like one of the rooms in the Halls of Healing of the Jedi Temple. That he had been here enough times in the past to recognize the place on sight was not reassuring at all. Neither was the fact that joining the Force seemingly brought him to one of his least favourite places in the galaxy.

As if drawn by the alarms, the door opened and a rampaging horde of Healers stampeded in, heading straight for him. Obi-Wan could only look on in bemusement at the strange assortment of people getting to work around him, most of them familiar. This definitely wasn't what he was expecting. He knew, he hoped, that he would see familiar faces when he joined the Force. Qui-Gon, who joined the Force shortly after teaching him and Yoda the Way of the Whills, or his best friends Bant, Garen or Reeft, or perhaps his fellow Councilors. Certainly not Chief Healer Vokara Cha, who was currently barking orders at her subordinates even as she examined Obi-Wan and asked him questions which did not penetrate the fog of bewilderment he was currently experiencing.

Needing to know what had just happened, he instinctively reached for the Force, and immediately gasped and reared back as he heard a cacophony of thousands of Force signatures and felt the pure untarnished brilliance of the Jedi Temple slamming into him. "What in the galaxy…" he rasped, shocked to find just how hoarse and disused his voice was. He tried to stumble out of the bed, needing to reach the window or the door, anywhere where he could get his bearings.

"He's going into convulsions! We need sedatives!"

Twisting just a little too late, he felt the tell-tale pinprick of the sedative injection and succumbed to the darkness of oblivion.

* * *

Obi-Wan's consciousness floated somewhere in the no-man's land between dreams and wakefulness, as he slipped effortlessly into a meditative trance in his sleep. He could feel the Force all around him, so amplified by the nexus point of the Jedi Temple that it was almost tangible.

_Where am I_, he asked of the Force.

_Home_, was the maddeningly simple answer_. _

_How is this possible_, he next thought.

In response, he received a barrage of information, of an answer so impossible it jolted him to full wakefulness in the matter of seconds, shocked by the sheer enormity of it.

Thankfully, there were no deafening alarms this time. Pushing himself up on the bed stiffly, he took stock of his surroundings. He was indeed in the Jedi Temple, in the Halls of Healing. There was no doubt about that. Or that Healers he thought killed in the Purge were still alive, as was he, considering he was no longer outlined in blue. Twisting around, he saw a chrono on the bedside table. Checking the date, he realized that the answer given to him by the Force, however impossible it was, was correct. Against all logic and reason, he had been sent back to the past, to a couple of years before the start of the Clone Wars.

* * *

Mulling over this information, he knew he had to meditate more to decide what to do now. Before he could do so though, Vokara Che entered the room. Obi-Wan gulped. Though he was much older now, and had seen enough nightmares to last two lifetimes, the stern visage of the Chief Healer was still a formidable image.

"Knight Kenobi," he filed the information of his knighthood away, "I'm very happy to see you awake, and in a considerably calmer state this time. You have been asleep for a long time." He didn't need to fake or disguise his shock. For just how long had he been asleep?

For the next few minutes there was silence, as the Healer examined his vitals, both using the instruments and also assessing him through the Force, humming occasionally to herself and jotting a few things on her datapad. Finally, she straightened and regarded him. "I imagine you have a lot of questions. But indulge me and answer a few of them first for me would you?"

At his nod, she asked her first question, "Right. Easy one, I hope. What's your name?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi. I don't have a concussion, you know." At least, he hoped he didn't have one.

"Just checking. Alright, what is the third line of the Jedi Code?" Again, an answer he knew even in his sleep. She continued in this vein for a couple more questions, before asking him, "What was the last thing you remembered?"

_Talking to my dead former Padawan, who was glowing blue like me, who turned, became a Sith, then turned back to the light, and who despite age and events still loved arguing with me, except this time we were fighting to take the blame ourselves instead of blaming each other?_

That answer would probably earn him a permanent stay here. Obi-Wan reached for the Force but it was frustratingly silent. Mustering a puzzled smile at the Healer, he said slowly "I… don't quite remember, Healer Che. I gather that I have been unconscious for a while, but the events directly preceding that are somewhat unclear. If you could give me some reminders to jolt my memory.."

Vokara Che raised a sardonic eyebrow at his fishing for information. "Nice try, Knight Kenobi. Do you remember your last mission?"

Of course, Obi-Wan couldn't remember what his last mission was, nor his age before he was unconscious, nor a myriad other questions. Even when he tried to guess Vokara Che saw through it immediately and just glared at him, and after a while Obi-Wan just shrugged and gave up answering. The Force would provide a way, even if it was unwilling to give up its secrets for now.

Eventually, the examination was over and he was pronounced healthy, just physically weak – which was amazing according to her given that he had apparently been in a coma for a long time (just how long, she refused to say). However, he was experiencing some disorientation and retrograde amnesia as a result of brain trauma, which was to be expected due to his long coma. Healer Che recommended that he stayed with the Healers for now to rebuild his strength, and also to begin regular sessions with the mind healers as he recovered. Which was exactly what he needed right now, Obi-Wan thought sarcastically.

Vokara Che misinterpreted the furrow in his brow for worry over the lost memories. "Do not worry. Your memories will come back with time. For now, just rest and recover. Now, there are a few visitors outside who had been bouncing on the edge of their toes wanting to meet you for the past hour. I'm going to let them in for now, but if I see that they're exhausting you they will have to leave."

Anakin! He perked up, sitting up on the bed. Obi-Wan still had no idea why and how he was thrown into the past, but if the Force had given him a second chance, he would take it with both hands and enjoy every moment he had been given, starting with his apprentice.

Rolling her eyes, Vokara Che snorted disparagingly and opened the door. She spoke sternly to whoever was outside for a while before leaving. No sooner had her frame left the door then his two oldest friends in the galaxy – Bant and Garen – barged in. Bant all but pounced on him, hugging him for dear life and squeezing all the air out of his lungs, while Garen was yelling something completely incomprehensible in his ears, deafening him for the second time that day. Obi-Wan, for his part, could only clutch to Bant wordlessly, marveling at the gift given to him that allowed him to see his friends alive again.

* * *

**End Chapter 2**

Author's note: If you're wondering where Anakin is, well…. All will be revealed eventually. Please read and review, thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**And miles to go before I sleep**

Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows, it's very much appreciated! Every time I receive a new notification it makes me write faster. Hope you enjoy this new chapter!

**Chapter 3:**

* * *

When the trio of friends finally composed themselves, and in the case of the males, pretended that those totally were not tears on their cheeks, Obi-Wan's friends settled down beside him. Garen sat on the chair while Bant perched beside Obi-Wan on the bed, unwilling to let go of him for even one moment.

"Finally! The Healers thought you were never going to wake up ever again, but I knew you will definitely find your way back, you won't ever abandon us." Bant said, her first coherent words since she came in.

Obi-Wan considered her statement and all its implications. "Was I in a coma for long?"

They glanced at each other. "Long enough," they said at the same time, but didn't volunteer any further information, clearly under strict instruction from Vokara Che not to agitate him.

Which would had been frustrating since he needed information to understand this new situation he had found himself in. However, part of what earned Obi-Wan the 'Negotiator' nickname in his previous life (and he might as well get used to calling it as such now) was his ability to engage the other party in seemingly casual conversation, subsequently letting their guard down and being more open to his suggestions, or letting slip secrets. It was perhaps a little underhanded to treat his friends as negotiation opponents, but it was his quickest way of getting some answers.

First, an open-ended question to start them talking.

"So, what exciting things have I missed then?"

His friends, as expected, immediately started updating him on Temple gossip.

"Well, for starters, we're all knighted now, every one of us. Bant here is even training a Padawan! So is Reeft, too, but he's away on a mission right now. We'll have to comm him to tell him the good news!"

Huh. Bant and Reeft took on Padawans a short while after Obi-Wan started training Anakin, definitely years before now. For this to be considered news implied that he had been in a coma for at least five years, maybe even more.

Obi-Wan was beginning to get a bad feeling over this whole situation. He masked his confusion and worry though, congratulating Bant and teasing Garen about remaining Padawan-less, then let the conversation move on around him.

The best trick to acquiring information was to keep silent and let the subject continue talking, knowing that eventually they would let slip some important details. Obi-Wan kept some of his attention on the conversation, occasionally interjecting a nod or a response to subtly steer the conversation where he wanted it. The rest of his mind was engaged in assimilating and analyzing the information he had already been given. It was a skill he had perfected during long boring treaty negotiations – the routine sort of work he had been doing before the Clone Wars a lifetime (_literally_) ago.

From the events Bant and Garen considered important to update him about, Obi-Wan could infer that he had indeed been in a coma for many years. He could not pinpoint the actual length though, since it had been _decades_, and his memories of events were not so exact they included the actual year they occurred. But so far, there seemed to be no difference in his two lives, except that one had him in an apparent long coma.

Garen was now discussing some changes the Jedi Council had instituted. "The Council isn't taking any chances after what happened to Master Jinn… Ouch!" Garen yelled and doubled over, clutching his foot which seemed to be the victim of a vicious stab by a Mon Calamarian heel.

Hearing about Qui-Gon always invoked a dull pain within him, no matter how long ago it was. Looking at the guilty looks of his friends, he managed a weak smile. "You don't have to dance around what happened to my Master with me, I came to terms with it long ago."

Bant touched his arm soothingly. "Oh. We thought you… I am sorry for your loss, I know the two of you were close. It was a great loss for the Order as well."

Obi-Wan bowed his head, letting go of his grief into the Force. He had made his peace with Qui-Gon, and knew he was in the Force now. Well… Obi-Wan had the sudden thought that perhaps this was part of the process of joining the Force – a sort of purgatory where you repeat the past until you learned from your mistakes. This wasn't likely to be the case here, but the whole notion was somewhat disquieting.

Mulling over the nature of the Force reminded him of his last moments within it, and the final conversation he had with Anakin. Which brought his attention to the fact that he currently had a missing Padawan. He probably should have asked about Anakin earlier, but in his defense, he had spent years hiding from Vader and he was out of practice at Padawan-managing.

"So, where _is_ my wayward Padawan?"

Only to be met with dead silence and confused stares. "Obi-Wan," Garen said very slowly, "What are you talking about, you don't have a Padawan."

"WHAT?!"

Obi-Wan could feel a rising bubble of anxiety rise up within him, quickly squashed. He did not have the time to panic right now.

"My Padawan Anakin? Anakin Skywalker?"

"That boy from Tatooine? Your _Padawan_? What universe are you in? Wait I thought you knew what happened?"

Forget remaining calm. After everything that had happened, Obi-Wan was fully entitled to panicking.

"_What_ exactly happened?" Obi-Wan half yelled.

"Obi-Wan, relax, I think you're confused and that's to be expected from a coma like yours. Let's talk through this calmly." Bant, ever the peacekeeper, interjected into his exchange with Garen.

"Is Anakin here? I want to see him now, I will be calm once I do that." Rising up of the bed, he struggled to get to his feet, but his leg muscles gave out under him and he collapsed onto the ground. His friends, startled at this unusual change in his demeanor, jumped out of the way at first but seeing him get up, tried to restrain him.

For a few moments, everything was chaotic in the small room. Until Vokara Che stormed in, angrily demanding why the patient was so agitated, and chasing his friends off over their protestations. Her threat to sedate Obi-Wan again if he continued to struggle calmed him down quickly, though internally his mind was going a parsec a minute, concern and worry for Anakin foremost.

Just where was Anakin in this life?

* * *

**End chapter 3**

Oops. I meant to reveal Anakin's fate in this chapter but it got too long. I'm already writing the next chapter though, where you will finally get your answers. But till then, I would love to hear your guesses on what happened to Anakin!


	4. Chapter 4

**And miles to go before I sleep**

Thanks for all the lovely reviews! This next chapter is for all of you. =)

**Chapter 4:**

* * *

A few days later, Obi-Wan was still confined to his room at the Healers. To his bed, even. His muscles had atrophied from his long bed rest and he was just beginning the long process of physical therapy to strengthen his muscles. Even now, to his frustration, the walk to the fresher was a struggle, and that was for someone who had had to deal with arthritis constantly during the waning years of his first life.

As he finished up at the fresher and washed at the sink, he stared at the mirror again. Obi-Wan had never been much for vanity, but even now the sight of his younger face still gave him a shock. There were no wrinkles on his face, and his hair was auburn again instead of the grey, although instead of the mullet he sported at this age before, his hair was now cropped short.

The only people he had seen since the first day had been his main Healers, as well as a mind Healer – whose visit went about as well as could be expected. Which was to say, not helpful at all. In fact, his current predicament was actually the fault of the mind Healer, since he had recommended that Obi-Wan be kept from current events so long as his amnesia persisted, since it might be traumatic. So the Healers had imposed a ban on all visitors as well as the holonet, and Obi-Wan could not research on the circumstances leading to his coma and Anakin's fate.

Returning to his room, he assumed a meditative pose by the window. Obi-Wan used to hate meditating when he was an Initiate, and later, a Padawan. Immediately after Qui-Gon's death, though, meditating became a necessity to help him come to terms with the loss. Afterwards, Anakin's apprenticeship was such a trial sometimes, for all the joy it did bring him, that meditating became something he looked forward to for the peace and clarity it brought him. During the long years hiding at Tatooine, there had been scarcely anything to do but meditate on his sins and mistakes, and it became a comfort to reach for the Force and know that even as everything fell apart around him, the all-encompassing energy field had not forsaken him. It was during those lonely years in the desert when he had somewhat anthropomorphized the Force, ascribing it emotions and moods and talking to it as if it were a person.

This whole week, it had felt like the Force was in a very playful mood, dancing around him in a manner it never had before. Yet, it had also been frustratingly silent, despite his pleas for answers. There was something odd about this reality he had woken up in, not even counting the weirdness with Anakin, but he could not put a finger on it. He had meditated for days, but given that the Force had taken to being particularly elusive right now, he was still no closer to figuring it out.

It was clear that Anakin was not his Padawan here, which should have been obvious to him from the start, since hehad been in a coma for years. Anakin had probably been reassigned to another Master. However, when Obi-Wan reached out to the Force presences of the Jedi within the Temple, he could not find Anakin's.

Perhaps Anakin was on a mission with his other Master. Or at least, Obi-Wan hoped that was what happened and he hadn't been sent to the Agricorps, or worse, left the Jedi. If Anakin was found by Sidious before Obi-Wan could get to him, all would be lost.

Obi-Wan really didn't want to meet Vader again. He would give everything in his power to prevent that future from happening here.

And while on the topic of Sidious… He had to find a way to expose Palpatine as the Sith Lord and to capture or kill him. The Sith Lord was very powerful in the Force though, defeating four of the best duelists of the Order, and later on, Master Yoda himself. To go against him without a well thought out plan would be suicide.

The production of the clones, with the deadly Order 66 to kill all Jedi programmed within them, was likely already underway, so he could not stop that, but perhaps that might still be a way to change or abolish it.

The Clone Wars – which if events proceed in the same manner would start in just a couple of years. It would be good if he could somehow prevent the Clone Wars from happening in this timeline. Obi-Wan had watched, both from the frontline and on the Council, as the war had tore and taken from the Order until the Jedi were but shadows of their former peacekeeping selves.

There were so many tangled threads to unravel.

Obi-Wan was not so arrogant as to think that he could resolve all these himself, knowledge of the future or not. _I need help. Please._ He pleaded of the Force.

The answer came in the form of a rhythmic taping of a gimer stick on the floor, a sound instantly recognizable to any Jedi. Coming out of his meditation, Obi-Wan felt great affection and relief to see a much younger and energetic Yoda peering up at him. The ancient Master, no doubt prompted by the Force itself, had come to seek Obi-Wan out.

"Master Yoda." He inclined his head in a respectful bow, a genuine smile gracing his lips. "It is good to see you. I'm surprised they actually allowed me visitors."

"Allowed visitors, you still are not. Saw me as I walked past, Healer Che did not. Too short I am," Yoda chortled.

As usual, when Yoda joked about his (lack of) height, one was never sure whether to laugh or politely protest that 'size was not everything'. Obi-Wan chose to ignore it. "I'm honored that you braved Healer Che's wrath to visit me."

Yoda settled down in a similar meditative pose opposite him. "Glad to see you return to us, I am. Missed, you have been, by a great many." Yoda then studied him closely for a moment. "Hmmm. But different, you are. Older, wiser, sadder. Things to tell me, you have?"

"Yes Master Yoda. What I am about to tell you might sound completely impossible, but the Force tells me it is true. I ask you to please suspend your disbelief and let me complete my story first."

"Lived for more than 800 years I have, seen many impossible things I have, shock me so easily you will not."

Obi-Wan inclined his head in acknowledgement. He then proceeded to tell Yoda an abridged version of the life he lived before. The discovery of the Chosen One, the return of the Sith, Qui-Gon's death. Anakin's apprenticeship. The start of the Clone Wars.

Here he felt a nudge from the Force (how convenient of it to finally speak up now) and knew he should not speak of the specifics of the Clone Wars and identities of the Sith Lords for now. There would be a time and place for that later, the Force told him.

"The Jedi became Generals and Commanders of the Grand Army of the Republic and we led most of the campaigns in the Clone Wars. However, events were manipulated by the Sith, and we were betrayed and declared traitors. Most of us were executed, though some of us escaped and went into hiding. I was one of those who escaped, however eventually I was killed by one of the Sith. Instead of joining with the Force though, I found myself back here in the Jedi Temple, in what was my past."

Yoda had listened through his entire monologue, his expression thoughtful but not interrupting until the end of his story.

"Hmmm. Given me much to think about, you have, Master Kenobi. Impossible, this should be. But believe your story, I do. Incredible gift from the Force you have been given. Yet, happened differently from what you described, events did here. In a coma you had been, for almost eight years."

"Eight years. That would have been…" Obi-Wan trailed off, realizing there was only one mission of note that happened eight years ago.

The Trade Federation blockage of Naboo, where he once lost a Master, gained a Knighthood, and acquired a Padawan.

It was Yoda's turn to give Obi-Wan a description of this reality's version of the mission that changed Obi-Wan's life irrevocably.

It turned out that during the battle with the Sith, Obi-Wan was the one who was stabbed fatally, not Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon had to continue with the battle alone and eventually killed the Sith. Obi-Wan's body somehow miraculously survived his injuries. However, Obi-Wan himself slipped into a coma and his spirit disappeared so deep within the Force that he would not wake up, despite many attempts at calling him through the Force. As the years passed, hopes dwindled that he would ever wake up. Obi-Wan had been knighted in absentia while Qui-Gon took Anakin as his Padawan learner.

Obi-Wan felt sheer relief upon hearing this version of events, relaxing back against the wall. Here was a new reality where Qui-Gon lived to train Anakin, and Obi-Wan _knew_ he would be the perfect Master for Anakin. Surely there would be no chance for Anakin to fall in this life. Best of all, Obi-Wan was here now, with knowledge of the Sith's machinations from his previous life, and together with Yoda, the Council, and Qui-Gon, they would prevent the fall of the Jedi this time.

This explained the oddities in this timeline. His long coma, Garen and Bant's insistence that he never had a Padawan, and Anakin's missing Force presence in the Temple. Qui-Gon was one of the best negotiators of the Order, and as his Padawan Obi-Wan had very little downtime at the Temple. It was likely the same case with Anakin.

However, Bant also said that the Jedi had suffered a great loss over what happened with Qui-Gon. At that time he assumed she was referring to Qui-Gon's death, but since that couldn't be the case here…

His eyes flew to Yoda in shock, and dawning comprehension. Yoda's ears were drooping and he looked sorrowful.

Obi-Wan had a _really_ _bad_ feeling about this.

"Disagreed often with the Council, Qui-Gon did, over his Padawan's training. Left the Jedi Order, he had a few years ago, becoming one of the Lost Twenty One, and taking young Skywalker with him. On Serenno now with his old Master Count Dooku, who had left the Jedi before Qui-Gon. Beyond the reach of the Jedi, they all are now."

* * *

**End chapter 4**

**Author's notes: **Virtual kudos to those of you who guessed correctly! Qui-Gon survived and left the Order, taking Anakin with him, though I don't think anyone expected Dooku to lend them an opportunistic hand. Hope you all enjoyed this twist!

It has always been my belief that if Obi-Wan died while Qui-Gon lived, Qui-Gon would eventually leave the Jedi with Anakin in tow. The ties that bound him to the Jedi were all gone – Tahl, Obi-Wan and Dooku, and he was already getting increasingly disillusioned with the Jedi Council in TPM. Their harsh treatment and lack of trust in Anakin would quite possibly be the final straw for him. So this story is my means of exploring the consequences of such a choice, combined with the Star Wars time travel story I always wanted to write.

As always, please read and review, I'd be delighted to hear any suggestions, thanks!


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